A 16-year-old boy has been confirmed as Indonesia's 12th bird flu case, a health official said yesterday, as the world's fourth most populous country readied to mass-produce the anti-flu drug Tamiflu.
Health ministry official Hariadi Wibisono said that the condition of the boy, who was admitted to the state hospital in West Java's provincial capital Bandung on Nov. 15, was good but he was infected.
"Tests taken from the 16-year-old boy, both locally and by the World Health Organization (WHO), show that he is a bird flu patient," he said.
"We have received news that his health condition is quite good and we hope that he can survive," he added.
Seven fatalities from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza have been confirmed in Indonesia by the WHO, but more than one dozen suspected bird flu deaths have been reported.
Health officials are currently waiting for WHO confirmation of local tests that showed that a 35-year-old man who died on Nov. 19 was the country's eighth fatality.
Four other Indonesians have been confirmed as carrying the virus but have either recovered or are still receiving treatment.
Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari meanwhile said yesterday that the government aimed to produce a "minimum" of 22 million Tamiflu pills, to boost the country's current stockpile of 800,000.
Ten tablets should be sufficient for one course of the anti-viral drug, deemed the most effective treatment available in the event of a flu pandemic.
Swiss giant Roche approved local production of Tamiflu on Friday.
The drug is to be manufactured by state-run Kimia Farma and Indo Farma pharmaceutical firms beginning in three to five months, Supari said.
"This is a testament of our seriousness in tackling bird flu. We do not wish for Indonesia to become the world's source of bird flu," the minister told a press briefing.
The drug would be for government stockpiling purposes only and is to be distributed across West Java, Jakarta and Banteng, the three most-affected provinces in the country so far.
Bird flu has claimed more than 60 lives in Asia since 2003.
Scientists warn that continued contact between infected birds and humans may eventually result in the virus mutating into a form that could be easily passed on by humans, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.
Indonesia pledged on Friday a year-long fight against bird flu, which will include house-to-house checks and culls.
The government was accused of covering up initial outbreaks of bird flu and has been repeatedly warned that it must take quick action to stem the spread of the virus, with awareness of the disease outside the capital remaining low.
Agriculture minister Anton Apriyantono said on Friday that backyards as well as farms across Jakarta and its neighboring towns of Bogor, Depok and Tangerang to the south and east would be scoured weekly for signs of the disease.
He urged civilians to be "willing to allow their sick or non-sick chickens and birds" to be culled by officials and said they would be compensated for culled birds at market prices.
Authorities have so far been reluctant to conduct mass culling to prevent the spread of the disease, citing economic reasons, and the minister has not said how the compensation scheme would work for farmers.
China outbreak
Meanwhile, a new outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza has been confirmed in China's northern region of Inner Mongolia, the agriculture ministry said on yesterday.
The latest bird flu outbreak is the 23rd in China since last month.
Experts confirmed H5N1 bird flu after 246 birds died in Inner Mongolia's Zalantun city last Sunday, the ministry said.
Local veterinary workers have culled 16,567 birds at poultry farms within 3km of the affected area, it said.
China has reported three confirmed human infections with bird flu.
WHO experts plan to travel next week to the eastern province of Anhui, where two women died after contact with infected poultry.
Chinese agriculture and health authorities have stepped up education campaigns with prime-time television and newspaper advertisements urging caution and proper hygiene in handling live and slaughtered poultry.
Health officials worldwide fear that a mutation that makes the virus highly infections between people could lead to a global human pandemic, killing millions.
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